Shivers and shuffles

Another great Thursday night rehearsal last night. We started out with the end of Act 1 - "On Thursday night you'll find him where you want him. Far from the crowds in the garden of Gethsemane....". Keith ran the chorus through the subsequent "Well done Judas. Good old Judas" a few times, then I led into it with my bit. Blimey, it made me feel funny when the chorus came in. This is such a big moment in the show...Judas loses all his sneering, edgy voice and delivers this betrayal in a soft, sad voice. He knows he has just condemned Jesus to death. What a way to start the rehearsal - shivers all down my spine!

Then to the other extreme, we did "Simon Zealotes". This sounded fantastic. It's a real driving piece, with a bit of a gospel feel. James (playing Simon) has a great voice and I think he will really grow into this part. The sound was amazing.

We then went back over "The Temple" and "What's the Buzz". Keith surprised me again by going straight through into "Strange Thing Mystifying". I had been singing along with the Disciples and wasn't ready at all. Another dodgy entrance!

We've had a bit of a shuffle round in the male roles. Some people who came for auditions have not turned up again, or have not come back since they didn't get the part they wanted (bit silly really). So we have a new disciple and some different lepers. John, the new disciple, has a fab voice though, so he'll really boost the sound in their songs. Anyway, finished up with "No, you're wrong, you're very wrong..", which did go wrong(!), but still sounded great.

Every Thursday night I am just blown away by the chorus work. I think most people overlook the chorus when thinking about this show and that is a shame. They are not big song-and-dance numbers, but they set the tone for the whole show...from the euphoria of "Hosanna" and "Simon Zealotes" to the wretched lepers in "The Temple" to the goading of Pilot. Without a good chorus, it wouldn't matter how good the principals were, the show would feel very flat. I know we won't have that problem.

Next rehearsal for me is Monday night with the Priests. Better get practicing "Damned for all time".

Principals kick off with Act 1

Had a sing through Act 1 at Keith's house last night. Myself, Pete (Jesus) and Caroline (Mary) were there. It was great to actually get singing my own songs. Things didn't go too bad considering it was the first run through. I think my main problem has been that my only reference has been the old 1970 "Original Concept" CD with Ian Gillan and Murray Head. Listening to the new version, I think mine is more rock than opera. My task is now to listen to the new version and study the score to ensure that I'm singing what's in the score, with the modern performance from the new CD, while maintaining the quality and control of my voice. Not an easy task!

I still love the original recording. The exchanges between Jesus and Judas are really electric...you can just imagine these two long haired rock stars having a go at each other, battling it out with complex falsetto ad-libs! And it was the recording that I grew up with. It really gave me the passion for the music (and, if I'm honest, taught me everything I know about the Easter story).

Anyway, I got some useful pointers last night from Keith and Caroline, so now I need to practice, practice, practice.

I have to say, I think this is going to be a fantastic show. It remains to be seen how the director will set things, especially the chorus. Although the focus of the show is on the main characters, the chorus has a hell of a lot of work to do. I think they appear in at least 9 songs in some form or another. And some are very tricky, like "The Temple" and "Trial by Pilate".

If it all comes off, it's going to be amazing.

A small publicity success

Well, it seems my conversation with the Telegraph reporter did the job after all. There was a very nice article in Friday's paper under the headline "Chance for show stars to be super". Hmm...dodgy headline maybe, but it was great to see that they have taken an interest. David Peasgood (presumably the person I spoke to on the phone) has written a piece based on our conversation, although it looks like he managed to speak to someone else as well (maybe DW as I suggested).
Now, I have to say this is not at all what I expected. I had intended to just make them aware that we had started and what a big thing it was for the town etc. I never beleived that they would just run a story based mainly on what I had said. It's all very good though...there's a picture from Kiss Me Kate and it sounds like thay're going to keep up to date with progress.
Not a bad start to the publicity campaign. Just hope they keep it up.

Judas on Judas

This is an interesting little piece by the guy currently playing Judas in the US Tour. He gives a good insight into the character, and I have to agree with him. This is just why I wanted the part. Judas is such a complex character, it's really something I can get my teeth into.

First rehearsal...

Well, had the first rehearsal as "Judas" last night. It was pretty scary. Not that I've had any bad feeling from any of the long-standing members, but I just felt like I had to do a good job tonight to show why they gave me the part. I didn't really get to do anything much as we were just going through chorus pieces (What's the Buzz, Hosanna, The Temple). We did do Everything's Alright though. It took me a bit by surprise when Keith (the MD) carried on from the end of Mary's opening 2 verses. I had been expecting him to cut to the next chorus, but he ploughed straight on. So, my initial effort at "Woman your fine ointment..." was a bit weak. Damn. Still, we did it again and I was ready for it this time! It sounded much better.
We got a rehearsal schedule last night as well. This is a bit of a strange occurence as I've not been used to such organisation! Unfortunately the schedule is such that principals are generally needed on a Monday night, which clashes with the Phil. This is a bit of a blow as I'd like to try to keep both going until the summer. I may be able to rearrange some JCS rehearsals, but I don't want to mess things about too much. I'm already out for 2 weeks when we go to France, so I need to be careful. If it comes down to it, JCS will have to take precedence. Having a lead is a big commitment and I don't want to let anyone down.

Starting the publicity ball rolling

Emailed the Grimsby Evening Telegraph yesterday. I just thought they ought to be made aware of what a huge event this show is for the area. I just basically said, look, it's going to be huge, hope you're going to made a big fuss about it. Anyway, I had a call from a reporter last night - he's going to do a "project" on the show and wanted contact details. I put him onto David Wrightam as he's the only person I could think of at the time. Hope I haven't trodden on anyone's toes, but I just felt the need to share my excitement!

Which one are you Daddy?

Let the kids watch the JCS video last night. They loved it! They couldn't stop asking questions..."Who are they?"..."Why do they have guns?"..."Which one are you daddy?"...
They were very sweet. Left them watching it while we went out to Philharmonic rehearsal. I think they went to bed just before Judas' death, which was probably wise. Molly watched the rest this morning though. She was really keen to see Jesus go on the cross!

Saturday morning...

I think it has just started 2 sink in 2day. Listened to soundtrack, thinking "I can't believe this is happening!"

Got to get a web site guys

I was looking for a link to the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Amateur Operatic Society (I'll call 'em GCAOS from now on) web site.....um, nope there doesn't seem to be one. Look on Google. There's Silhouettes, the Philharmonic, Boston Operatic Society.
We should have one guys....people will be looking for us on the net and failing.

A dream come true

Welcome friend.

I decided to create this blog as I wanted to document this experience. Jesus Christ Superstar is my all-time favourite musical. Ever since I can remember it has been my dream to one day perform in the show. I never once imagined that I would get the opportunity to do so.

But last night my dream came true. I have just joined the Grimsby and Cleethorpes Operatic Society in order to take part. Last night was the first rehersal after some very exhausting auditions on Sunday. After an agonising wait, parts were announced in reverse order(!). As I heard the names come out I got more and more anxious as the roles got bigger and my name still wasn't called out. Finally, right before Jesus...."Judas is.....Richard Barley". I was stunned. Totally stunned.

So, now I have a bit of a job on my hands. Fortunately I already know all the music, so I don't have to learn any words. The biggest challenge is going to be training my voice.